Rising Stars Leadership Development Institute July 22, 2014

1. Establishing Your Presence in the School and Community: Developing Support and Building Partnerships Rising Stars Leadership Development Institute July 22, 2014 Dr. Deitra E. Spence, Consultant

2. Warm-up Activity • Meet with your Quadrant 1 partner • Think of one successful activity that you have used or heard about to involve families at school or at home. Your have three minutes each to share one example.

3. STOP and SHARE • Raise your hands if you heard a good idea that might be conducted at school to increase partnerships. At home? In the community? With large groups? Small groups? Individually with one parent or family at a time? In the early grades? Older elementary? Middle grades? High School? All grades?

4. Workshop Goals: WALT understand the different types of involvement that are needed in a comprehensive program of partnerships. WALT identify which practices you can implement in your school to build parent and community capacity.

5. What does the research say? • The most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement in school is not income or social status, but the extent to which the student’s family is able to: • Create a home environment that encourages learning • Become involved in their children’s education at school and in the community (Henderson and Berla, 1997)

6. What does the research say? • Studies of the effects of schools’ outreach to involve diverse families report that: • Teachers and principals know that good teaching is not enough to ensure student learning and development. They know that they must involve all families in their children’s education, but many teachers are unsure how to do this effectively and efficiently. (National Network of Partnership Schools, 2012).

7. Teachers Involving Parents National Network of Partnership Schools, 2012

8. Epstein’s Six Types of Involvement • Parenting • Communicating • Volunteering • Learning at Home • Decision-making • Collaborating with the Community Example: KATY ISD video

9. Communicating with Parents • “The single most important aspect of a good parent/school/community relationship is communication.” Marcia Knoll • Kirby, A. (2014) “Schools Expanding Social Media Use to Reach Parents”. Cabinet Report, School Innovation and Achievement, Washington, DC.

10. What is a Family-School Partnership Supposed to Look Like? • What might a school look like that has created a genuine culture of school-family-community partnerships, AND that has made real progress toward high school and academic achievement for all students? • The four levels of achievement are called: • Partnership school • Open-door school • Come-if-we-call school • Fortress school

11. Scoring Guide Check the boxes that have the most statements under them marked or circled. Check only one box in a row. • If three or more of your checked boxes fall in the Fortress School section and none under Open-Door or Partnership, your school is trying to keep parents away rather than work with them. In standards-based terms, it is BELOW BASIC. • If three or more of your checked boxed fall under Come-If-We-Call and none under Partnership, your school may want parents to be involved only on its terms. In standards-based terms, it is at the BASIC level. • If at least four of your checked boxes fall under Open-Door or Partnership and none are under Fortress School, your school welcomes families and supports them to be involved in a number of ways. In standards-based terms, it is PROFICIENT. • If at least three of your checked boxes are under Partnership and the rest are under Open-Door, your school is willing and able to work with all families. In standards-based terms, it is ADVANCED.

12. Utilize Community Resources to Improve Your School • Professional associations - architects, lawyers, and engineers • Museum, galleries, libraries, and other cultural attractions • Social and civic groups – YMCA, Boy/Girl Scouts, fraternities, sororities • Churches, mosques, synagogues • Colleges, universities, day care centers, and other school districts • Police and fire stations • Health agencies, hospitals, clinics, family resource centers, and hospitals • Senior citizens, block organizations, tenant groups • Artists, musicians, craftsmen • TV Stations, radio stations, newspapers • Community centers, parks, recreation centers, and other landmarks

13. Changing Demographics • Ross, J. and Bell, P. (2014) “In Public Schools, White Students are No Longer the Majority.” The Atlantic Magazine, Washington, DC. • “As public schools increasingly become institutions serving large numbers of students of color, some states with largely white state legislatures and aging electorates have already proven unwilling to raise taxes or divert needed funds to meet the needs of public schools.”

14. Engaging Families with Diverse Backgrounds • Examine our assumptions about families and the “hidden rules” of your school (see handout “Barriers to Parent Involvement”) • Building upon the strength of the extended family • Recognize, learn about, and affirm all cultures in the school • Learn how to pronounce students’ names • Visit your school’s neighborhoods and ride the school bus • Engage in courageous discussions about race in the classroom and in the faculty room

15. Support for Student Transitions National Network of Partnership Schools, 2012

16. Parent Participation by Grade Level National Network of Partnership Schools, 2012

17. Improving Partnerships in Middle and High Schools • Parenting – provide workshops to understand adolescent development • Communicating – arrange parent-student-teacher conferences; provide workshops to understand the college application/scholarship process • Volunteering – participate in career day, serve as translators, create safe corridors; grant writing • Learning At Home – provide parents with activities to encourage, praise, guide, and monitor their children’s work; maintain high expectations; include parents in homework assignments • Decision Making – offer parents training in leadership, decision making, policy advocacy, and collaboration • Collaborating with the Community – provide directories of afterschool recreation, tutorial programs, health services, cultural events, service opportunities and summer programs

18. Starting Points • Complete an inventory of present practices of school-family-community partnerships • Outline a version of how practices of partnership will develop and improve over three years • Prepare a detailed one-year plan • Evaluate school, family, and community partnerships program each year in order to improve practices

19. In Summary. . . . • Welcome ALL families • Communicate in languages that parents understand • Provide parents with useful and timely information about school and district policies, programs for their children, and students’ progress. • Organize an intentional,well-planned partnership program to engage all families in their children’s education at school and/or at home. • Incorporate student backgrounds and family culture into the classroom curricula and in the school’s program of family and community involvement.

20. Suggested Resources • Epstein, J., et al. (2002). School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action. Corwin Press, Inc. • Glanz, Jeffrey (2006) What Every Principal Should Know About School-Community Leadership. Corwin Press, Inc. • Mapp, K., Johnson, V., & Davies. D. (2007). Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships. The New Press. • Price, Hugh. (2008) Mobilizing the Community to Help Students Succeed. ASCD. • http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/Family-School-Community-Partnerships-2.0.pdf • http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/Research/School_UPDATE_Report-2013.pdf

21. Reflection, Sharing, Closing Write a tweet (140 characters) and summarize what you learned today about developing school/family/community partnerships. First Follower Contact Information: Dr. Deitra E. Spence - despence10@comcast.net